Eminem Talks Beastie Boys Influence and Where the "Berzerk" Face Came From

The new issue of Rolling Stone with Eminem featured on the cover doesn't hit newsstands until this Friday (November 22), but they have released a few segments of his interview with Senior Writer Brian Hiatt online today.

Eminem talks about being influenced by the Beastie Boys, who he imitated on national television earlier this year after ESPN premiered a preview of his music video "Berzerk." Viewers caught him sporting a blank stare while the hosts attempted to interview him about his new video. The Detroit rapper says this was all planned, thanks to Ad-Rock. "I knew we were about to show the 'Berzerk' video, so I was doing what I call the Berzerk face," Eminem says. "The whole song to me feels like vintage Beastie Boys. And you know the 'Pass the Mic' video where Ad-Rock is making that face, kind of not looking the camera? I was doing my own version."

He goes on to say that while he was a big fan of the Beastie Boys, he initially didn't understand their critically-acclaimed sophomore album Paul's Boutique when it was released. "When Paul's Boutique came out, I was one of the fans that didn't get it," he says. "It took me years to realize how fucking genius it is. I felt bad for sleeping on it."

Along with the Beastie Boys, Eminem describes how wanting to combining the strengths of both 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. played a role in shaping his lyricism. "You go to [2Pac], and he made songs. His fucking songs felt like something — 'Holy shit! I want to fucking punch someone in the face when I put this CD in'," he says. "Biggie told stories. I wanted to do all that shit."